I always figured he was only using one sword now because of a lack of equipment. He would rather fight with one sword and let another slave be armed than fight with two and make someone else fight unarmed. They have always seemed to have a lack of equipment and they try to always strip the people they kill of all their stuff whenever they finish the fighting.

Well, around half-way through season 1 Spartacus adopted a new fighting style using two swords, right to the end. Beginning of Vengeance we see him fight with two swords again but then oddly enough we never see it throughout this season. Very strange though.

Yeah, I miss Qunitis' humor. Not sure why they felt this season should be 100% scowls. The gladiators used to have some good sarcastic jabs too. Not looking for comedy, but occasional levity was better in season 1.

Yeah, I miss Qunitis' humor. Not sure why they felt this season should be 100% scowls. The gladiators used to have some good sarcastic jabs too. Not looking for comedy, but occasional levity was better in season 1.

Gannicus >>> this Spartacus, IMHO.

True, Ashur's character used to have some comedic elements too but now he's out scouting for his goon squad.

Did I miss something... when Mira randomly knew it was the blonde that took the map... ?

- She said that she had no idea that she had the map. She said she meant to shoot and wound her when she noticed she was trying to slip out during the fight when everyone else was engrossed with the fight.

plus, she made it clear all along she would "do anything" to improve her position, literally too I'm sure

Gannicus had made it clear he owed no allegiance to any side, he's just making decisions as a free man. He had no motivation to steal the map. According to wiki, Gannicus is part of the rebellion but historians don't know for sure if all of them were led by Spartacus or had their own following - conventional wisdom says Spartacus was leader.

Later this season, we may yet see Gannicus join the band, at least I hope so The trio of S, C & G would be formidable!

- She said that she had no idea that she had the map. She said she meant to shoot and wound her when she noticed she was trying to slip out during the fight when everyone else was engrossed with the fight.

Well, she could have just run her down and jumped on her back, spider-monkey-like, as is her method.

Whatever, it was cool to see her fire the arrow between the two combatants when we all thought she was going to gun down Gannicus for beatin' up on her man. And cool for cool's sake is a valid plot device in this particular show.

I really love our gal Katrina Law this season. She's been all sorts of awesome. I hope this role leads to more opportunities for her. I think she's more than capable of landing a super-hero-or-villain, butt-kickin'-chick part in one of the big-budget action movies Hollywood is churning out these days.

Imagine what that battle would have been like between Whitfield and Gannicus?
How did Spartacus get that fade? I guess they owned electric razors.
Since when does Asher fight like that? In the last two seasons he was portrayed as a double crossing coward.
It was a good episode. Instead of naming the show Spartacus, they should change it to Gannicus.

Since when does Asher fight like that? In the last two seasons he was portrayed as a double crossing coward.

- I think the main difference is that he was fighting for his life. He also had a much harder time fighting the soldiers than some of the other gladiators would have. As he said, he was considered the lowest of the brotherhood.

Imagine what that battle would have been like between Whitfield and Gannicus?
How did Spartacus get that fade? I guess they owned electric razors.
Since when does Asher fight like that? In the last two seasons he was portrayed as a double crossing coward.
It was a good episode. Instead of naming the show Spartacus, they should change it to Gannicus.

Lol Ashur was trained as a gladiator, but he only took on 3--Spartacus and the other guy took on and held off all of the guards in the arena--not to mention the encounter in the woods before...where Ashur made a strategic retreat. Ashur wasn't really a coward, he just wasn't nearly as good a fighter as the others and he knew it. At least that was my take on him. He was truly scared to face 3 guards, but as the fight continued, it looked as though he started to believe his own words and went all gladiator on them lol

I'm going to say something here, and I hope no one gets too offended...the thing is I've enjoyed this show, and it was never because of the actors. I've always found this show over-the-top, and the acting with it--as well as the dialogue--all of it together makes this show entertaining to me. I only thought of the spartacus character as "a man on a mission", but otherwise not very interesting...so far, that hasn't changed for me--the character Spartacus is still less entertaining than the other characters and I believe he's written that way--because of that, they could bring in a third person to play the part and it wouldn't matter to me. I mourn the passing of Andy because his death was a tragedy(he was my age)...not being on this show isn't that big of a deal to me considering the way the character is portrayed.

I'm glad Ashur's role has been expanded. Battiaus' absence is missed, but necessary for the slave army to have a real antagonist lead. I am feel good about the villains of this show again with the last two episodes web's of double crossing and treachery. Glaber is stepping up, and I'm liking Ilithyia and Xena scheming together.

Sorry if you guys posted this but why is Ashur no longer walking with a limp and doesn't have a brace on his leg?

in "Gods of the Arena" it was shown that Crixus injured Ashur's leg so that he could face the champion alone I believe. And then in "Blood and Sand", when his injury finally healed, he was given a new position and not allowed to return to the sand as a gladiator.